Benefits of adjusting cable brakes

[CBoz]

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Someone a couple weeks ago asked what's required to adjust '37 Zephyr brakes. High 60s today, so I thought it would be a good time to mess with mine. Since it had been awhile since I readjusted the cable brakes in my Zephyr, I started by taking the slack out of the cables with the shoes tight (Zephyr cables are not set under tension), then adjusted the secondary shoe cams, tightened up all four drums then back them all of until they were just free of drag.

Long story short, it's more work than the hydraulic brakes, but when you get them right, they are actually very good. Next thing to do will be to try to find new replacement springs.

Here's a pic of the brake setup (taken earlier); it's a Bendix self-energizing system, and I believe much different from the Ford system. The secondary shoe is woven while the primary is molded.